How to Make Fake Trees for Dioramas

Dioramas are often used by schools to educate children on plant and animal life, allowing them to create miniatures that replicate elements found in nature. Trees in particular can be made using a whole host of items commonly found in people’s homes. The materials will vary depending on whether you are making deciduous or coniferous trees, but that feeling of realism will come through either way.

Things You'll Need

Sticks, pinecones, acorns, and small green leaves

Green paint

Paintbrush

Tape

Green and brown clay

Scissors

Glue

Paper towel or toilet paper cardboard tubes

Green tissue and construction paper

Empty glue stick or pill bottle

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Collect pine cones from the outdoors. Paint them green using a small paintbrush. Set them aside to dry. Tape them to the back of the diorama so they appear to be standing upright like pine trees in a forest.

Collect thick sticks from outdoors that have smaller twigs branching off of them. Place the sticks in a small clay base to stand them up. Cut out simple leaf shapes from green tissue paper. Double over several sheets of tissue paper so you can make a few leaves at a time. Glue the tissue paper leaves to the branches of your “tree.”

Cut a cardboard tube from a roll of paper towels or toilet paper to the size you need. Collect small green leaves from outdoors. Tape the leaves to the top of the cardboard tree trunk to make your tree. This project works well with younger children whose fine motor skills are not yet fully developed.

Cover an empty glue stick container or pill bottle with brown construction paper or paint it brown so it looks like a tree trunk. Glue on construction paper branches that shoot upward in different directions. Cut leaves from construction paper using a simple leaf pattern and glue them to the branches. Put some acorns at the foot of the tree to make the trees look like mighty oaks.